Children learning to read and write in English are slower to master it than other European youngsters learning their own language, new research suggests.

Scientists at Dundee University compared literacy skills of primary school children in Scotland with 14 other countries.

They found that the Scottish children took two to three years to reach the same literacy levels as their foreign counterparts.

Mastery of basic foundation elements of literacy clearly occurs much more slowly in English

Professor Philip SeymourDundee University

Project leader Professor Philip Seymour told the British Association Festival of Science that factors like complex spelling and syllable structure could be responsible.

Speaking at the event at Glasgow University, he called for further research into whether children should start learning earlier.

Professor Seymour said: "Mastery of basic foundation elements of literacy clearly occurs much more slowly in English than in many other European languages.

"The slow rate of progress in English may be related to some degree to educational factors such as age of starting school or teaching methods.

"However, it seems likely that the main cause is linguistic and derives from difficulties created by the complex syllable structure and inconsistent spelling system of English."

Virtual non-readers

He said that children in most of the countries were able to read 90% of a selection of common words.

But the Scottish children could only read 30% after the first year at school and 70% after their second.

Commenting on the findings, Professor Seymour added: "Our Danish and English samples included, for example, children who remained virtual non-readers after one year in school as well as children who read very effectively.

"This variation stands out from other European languages in which the vast majority of children tend to learn quite quickly."

He said his wife was brought up with Esperanto as her first language, Dutch her second, and English her third.

"We brought up our own children with
Esperanto as their first language, and English as their second," he said.

"The ease with which they learned to spell in Esperanto far outstripped the progress in English. By the time they started school they could all spell better in Esperanto than they ever will in English.

Basic elements

The Dundee research project was part-funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and is the first to have compared the elements involved in learning English with so many European languages.